SSC 40 Greatest Moments: Tampa Defeats Philadelphia Phillies

MELBOURNE, Fla. - A third of the way through their 2015 season, the University of Tampa Spartans baseball team took down a goliath: Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies. The exhibition took place at Brighthouse Field in Clearwater, Florida on March 1st. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon Spartan and Phillies fans will not soon forget.

The game marked the opening of 2015 Spring Training and signaled the first game played by a Major League Baseball team that spring. Tampa entered the game with a No. 1 ranking and a record of 13-1. Although the win did not affect their NCAA record, the Spartans certainly made history. The victory stands as the first time an NCAA-sanctioned team defeated an MLB team since the Division I University of Miami Hurricanes defeated the Florida Marlins (now the Miami Marlins) in 2011.

That day, Tampa's pitching staff allowed just six Phillies hits, stranding ten runners on base and striking out six. The Spartans and Phillies both platooned pitchers. Tampa sent five junior pitchers to the mound, starting with David Heintz (4 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 SO), Dylan Barrow (2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 SO) who earned the win, Michael Calkins (0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 SO) in the 7th and 8th, and Zac Favre/Kevin Martin in the 9th (0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 SO). In his first outing that year, Martin earned the save.

Both teams were quiet offensively through the first inning. The Phillies jumped on the board in the bottom of the second to take the lead. Philadelphia strung together a double and two singles before closing out the at-bat with a two-run lead.

Neither team scored during the next three innings, but Tampa came out swinging offensively in the top of the sixth. Senior Andrew Amaro led off the inning with a one-out single and stole second to give the Spartans a runner in scoring position. Senior Giovanny Alfonso then answered the call, sending a single to centerfield that scored Amaro and gave Tampa their first run of the contest.

The top of the seventh featured an exciting outing for the Spartans, as Tampa came out in full force to take a 6-2 lead. Junior Ty Cooler led off the inning with a pinch-hit one-out single to centerfield, stealing second and giving Tampa a runner in scoring position. One out later, junior pinch hitter Joe Walsh took first base on a walk. Senior pinch hitter Brett Joes then responded with a two-out infield single to load the bases. All runners advanced on the next walk to Andrew Amaro, which tied the game at 2-2. With the bases still loaded, senior Giovanny Alfonzo blasted a homerun over the leftfield fence to propel the Spartans to a four-run lead. It was the defining moment of the game.

Collectively, Tampa recorded eight hits in the victory. Andrew Amaro, Giovanny Alfonso, Stephen Dezzi, Ty Cooler, Nick Tindall, and Brett Jones each registered hits against the MLB team, while Alfonzo racked up five of the six RBI.

The UT baseball program is no stranger to big games, having traveled to play some of the top teams in Cuba in January 2014. The Spartans also defeated The Netherlands national team, 7-6, in a game prior to the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Tampa capped their 2015 season by winning a seventh NCAA baseball national championship. The Spartans earned a No. 3 seed for the south regional tournament after a Sunshine State Conference runner-up regular season finish. UT reeled off eight straight wins to take the championship.

In the regional tournament, they defeated Florida Tech (12-6), Nova Southeastern (8-1), West Alabama (13-9), and Florida Tech (5-4) again to advance to the final eight. There, they defeated No. 8 Cal Poly Pomona (7-4), No. 3 Mercyhurst (3-1), No. 15 Henderson State (5-2), and No. 2 Catawba (3-1) to win their second title in three years.